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The Last Man on Earth – 8/10

A world where humanity has been all but wiped out by a virus doesn’t necessarily sound like anything new for a drama. Convert it to comedy, centre it on a man-child named Philip Tandy Miller (Will Forte) and suddenly you have a completely different take on the often saturated ‘post-apocalypse’ market.

Created by Forte, The Last Man on Earth follows Phil Miller in his attempts to find other survivors. Based in Tuscon, he travels the United States painting large ‘Alive in Tuscon’ signs wherever he can. Despite Forte’s ability to sustain comedy by himself, with nothing but his boyish personality and the help of a few cousins of Wilson (the volleyball from Cast Away), it isn’t long before he meets Carol (Kristen Schaal). Both a bizarre as each other, I think the comedy could’ve survived solely on the talent of Forte and Schaal, but the plot would’ve grown stale so others characters are naturally brought into it. The likes of Melissa (January Jones), Todd (Mel Rodriguez), Mary Steenburgen (Gail) and Jason Sudeikis (Mike) and the rest all add their own ingredient to the show.

Now midway through its third season, The Last Man on Earth has managed to develop characters and maintain a consistent level of comedy. While susceptible to the odd filler episode, the over-arching plot throughout has not only given some well constructed drama, but also some really sad and thought-provoking moments. No more so than the recent mid-season finale, of which I’ll say no more. There aren’t many spoilers that can actually be revealed with this show, but the ones that can be are worth seeing for yourself.